New Bible Study?

Last night Jerilyn and I approached a couple about having a Bible study in their home.  I don’t want to reveal names just yet but this is a couple that has come to church off and on for several years.  Jerilyn has been teaching an English class in the woman’s home for over a year.  The couple has dedicated each of their three children in our church.  She has more spiritual interest than he does.  I don’t know that either one of them knows Jesus.

We also suggested that they could invite another couple to the Bible study.  The other couple lives in the same apartments and attended the last baby dedication a few weeks ago.  Couple number one said it was a great idea and that they would talk to couple number 2 about it soon.

Please pray that this Bible study will come to pass.  Pray that both couples will attend long term.  The Bible study I want to give is about at 25-30 study series that I am still deciding on what to include.  It will be using the Bible storying method that I have been writing about and that I taught Lupe, Leti, and Teodoro in Mexico last summer.

Thank you for praying.

Update on Sissy's Surgery

Our foster granddaughter had surgery yesterday (November 8) to remove part of a malignant tumor in her brain.  (Read the previous post if you have not yet.)  She was under anesthesia for 5 hours and everything went well.  They took out more than half of the tumor.  Sissy is groggy this morning but is acting pretty normal. 

Thank you for praying her through the surgery.  Please continue to pray for a speedy and complete recovery.  Also pray for the long term result of this tumor that continues to be in her brain.  Long term, the doctors hope that chemotherapy will stop the growth so that Sissy can live a somewhat normal life.  The Great Physician is the only one that can heal her.

Pray for Sissy

This is the first time we have used our blog to ask for prayer on a family matter.  Our daughter Julie and her husband Chad are foster parents to two siblings, a two year old boy and a one year old girl.  They came to Chad and Julie because the girl has inoperable cancer in her brain and Julie has some nursing experience. 

The tumor was considered inoperable because it is too close to vital parts of the brain that cannot be messed with.  Now, something worse has come up and they are going to try to remove as much of the tumor they can tomorrow (Friday, November 8).  Please pray.  The following is an E-mail Julie sent out last night.

I'm writing you from a hospital room with my baby 5 feet away hooked up to monitors. She's been admitted into the hospital for observation with plans to do major surgery on Friday. Up until now the doctors have been calling her tumor inoperable because the risks were far greater than the benefits. That has changed. There is fluid building up in her brain because of the location of the tumor. She's had two minor surgeries in the past month to try and help the fluid drain but it's not working very well. So they've decided to go in with a scope and try to remove as much of her tumor as possible. It's far too dangerous to remove all of it because it's around very critical structures of the brain, but they will take out all they can. I love her surgeon and have a lot of confidence in the team and I trust God to keep her safe. Please pray for her with us. She is still acting her happy cheerful self most of the time. Sometimes I think she probably has a headache. It doesn't slow her down much but every so often she'll hold her head and cry. She's also sleeping a bit more than usual. She was scooting around and being silly, making everyone laugh in the play room here at Doernbecher earlier today though!  Thanks for praying!  ~Julie 

Please pray for Sissy and for my daughter who loves her very much and wants to adopt her and her brother.

Day 16 in Mexico

We are in Santiago Apostol.  Actually we are staying in the neighboring town of San Lucas where Angel & Eva and Teodoro & Modesta live.  We are staying with Teodoro and Modesta.  We brought along two tents with us and all the boys are having a great time in one of them and the girls in another.  The three families of children are mixing very well and enjoying their time together.  We also brought three blow-up mattresses.  My wife and I are using a queen size one and Lupe and Leti are using two individual ones.  Teodoro and Modesta are sleeping on the cement with a very thin petate like they always do.

Everything is going very well.  Teodoro is a very good, successful farmer and he is teaching Lupe how to be a better farmer and how to do things less expensively.  He is being a great encouragement to Lupe in this area.  He has even talked about the possibility of traveling by bus to visit Lupe in Negritas to see his situation and offer suggestions of what he can do to improve his harvest.  That trip by bus would be about 12 hours one way.  In the car it takes us about 9 hours.

I have visited everyone I wanted to invite to the seminar and everyone can come except that Nemesio will only be able to sit in on one or two sessions.  We are going to have the seminar Friday and Saturday from 1pm to 5pm and on Sunday from 10am to 2:30pm.  (Keep in mind we are on Mexican time).  I told Flavio and Violeta if they wanted to come at noon they could eat with us.  Pray for a great time. Pray that God would give me wisdom in teaching and that I would remember everything I want to share.  Pray that everyone understands the lessons and can see how God can use them to reach their towns for Christ.

Teodoro is very obviously a Godly man who has a great desire to see people from his town come to Christ.  He has also suffered a lot for his faith in Jesus.  When he first came to live in San Lucas (right next door to Santiago) and he wanted to grow flowers everyone refused to sell him tools or even the starts to grow his flowers.  So, he grew alfalfa for his animals and corn for his family.  Later, when someone finally sold him flower starts to grow, no one would buy the finished product.  Teodoro has been in San Lucas about the same amount of time that Lupe and Leti have been in Negritas, and, like Lupe and Leti, the people now respect Teodoro very much and everyone seeks him out to buy from him because his product is of very high quality and his prices reasonable.  Also like Lupe and Leti, while they respect him as a man, they are very wary of being influenced by his “non-traditional” beliefs.  Like in Negritas, tradition is of supreme importance in Santiago and San Lucas.

This is one of the main reasons that I wanted to get Lupe and Teodoro together, so that they could encourage each other in the respective ministries that God has given them.  This is happening and I am happy.

I have great hopes that Teodoro will start at least one Bible study after I leave, inviting his family and Angel and Eva.  That is what he wants to do.  I also hope that Flavio will want to have a study in his house that is apart from the weekly Bible studies that the Catholics have.  Please pray to these ends.  It may be that Teodoro will have to prove that I can be done before Flavio takes this step.

After spending an hour together with Nemesio, it was obvious that Nemesio and Teodoro had often discussed their beliefs.  As I have only met Nemesio a couple of times I was still totally unsure of where he is in his relationship with Jesus.  I asked Teodoro what he thought of Nemesio and where he is spiritually.  Teodoro affirmed that he was sure Nemesio is trusting Jesus as his Savoir and wants to live for him.

When we first arrived Angel was not home.  Eva was very happy and held back tears when we presented her with a present from my daughter Julie.  The $100 she gave me for the purpose was just about exactly what it cost me to buy two square plastic tables and seven plastic chairs (from Walmart in Oaxaca).  I wanted a big table but they did not have any so I put the two square ones together.  This is the first table that they have had and they also have never had more than a couple of small chairs for their family of 7.  I also gave her a lot of clothing that was bought and donated by 3 ladies in our church. 

As I shared in last December’s newsletter, their wealth is growing.  Their first hens that were about to lay eggs in November now have children so their little flock is growing.  They also have a couple more sheep than before.  One is pregnant and another recently had a baby.  Instead of two small bamboo huts they now have a third, almost twice as big as the other two put together.  Angel has also begun to fence in his entire property with bamboo.  This also is a sign of increasing wealth.  I did find out that Angel is still drinking a little.  Pray for God to touch him and convince him that God himself can satisfy his every need.

This is a much longer report than I have given because I had more time to write it.  I am feeling good and enjoying some rest in between visits and studying.  Please continue to pray for us.

On another note, I just found out when I got to the internet café that my brother, almost 53, has hung himself.  A get together will happen on the 18^th when I will be in the Sacramento area on our way home.  Pray for his children and for the whole family.

On still another note, I wrote to several people on our mail list that we had only $1000 in hand of a needed $2500 for this trip.  We now have received another $775.  This leaves a need still of $725, assuming we come in at budget.  So far some things have been a little more expensive and others a little less expensive than what I was budgeting so right now, things look about on target.  Please pray for at least another $725 to come in to cover our expenses.  Right now we are very happy with how the trip is going.  God is doing something and we are excited to see the results.  "I seek the fruit that abounds to your account" so please consider joining the team by going to InFaith.org and click on the Donate button; Click on Donate Online; make sure you designate your gift to Jon Sousa's ministry fund.

Thank you very much!

Day 13 in Mexico

I spent a very profitable week being sick.  Don’t have time to explain much but God is in control.  My sickness resulted in great opportunity to spend a lot of time talking with Pueblito (Jesús’ wife).  She is very open and very close to confessing faith in Jesus.

Like I said a few posts ago, I don’t mind that the enemy wins all the battles except the ones that matter.  So, I spent the week sick; Lupe’s water pump broke and while I thought we could leave as soon as I got back to Negritas that was not the case; Lupe was discouraged as his crop was threatening failure; neither Lupe or Leti wanted to go to Oaxaca; (need I say more?).  Yes, there is more.  After an almost midnight pep talk we were all ready to go Monday morning (two days away).  

The pump was fixed and Lupe and his brother worked hard on watering his plants.  It was decided that Monday morning Lupe would wake up early to go buy food for his animals.  While he was gone Jerilyn and I were to come and pack everything up so that when he returned we could go.

NOT!!  One more little victory for the enemy.  We showed up at Lupe’s house on time and Lupe wasn’t gone.  He was sick in bed with a very high fever and a very large tonsil.  We were staring at another delay… while it was almost too late to delay any longer.  After some prayer, Jose and I went to town to buy the food for the animals while Jerilyn and Leti took Lupe to the Doctor.  We left 3 hours later then desired but we are on our way.  

I am writing this in McDonalds in Puebla, Mexico, about 3.5 hours from our evening’s goal.  We want to stay in a hotel tonight in Oaxaca, go to Walmart to buy some furniture for Angel and Eva in the morning, and be in Santiago buy mid-afternoon.

The big prayer requests is that God would orchestrate the scheduling of the 3 day seminar I want to give, that everyone would be able to attend at the same time, that it would go smoothly, that God would use it greatly, and that Lupe and Leti would be greatly encouraged to continue in the great ministry that God has given them.

Day 9 in Mexico

There was another reason I was so tired after helping Lupe water his field.  I was sick!  That night I had a very high fever as well as diarrhea.  I slept all the next day.  I slept for 20 straight hours except when my wife woke me up to see if I was still alive.  I believe it was food poisoning but cannot be sure.  I have had some fever now and then and some lingering intestinal problems but I am functioning at a fairly high level.

Yesterday Jerilyn and I celebrated our 37^th anniversary.  That’s right – she has put up with me for 37 years.  (Really, she has no one to blame but herself as she knew what she was getting into.)  We visited a small pyramid here in Querétaro and then went to see a very large rock structure called the Peña de Bernal.  I climbed it with Jesús and his nephew while Jerilyn stayed down with the rest of the family, worrying for my safety.  Yes, I got down safe; yes, I got very tired; yes I would do it again.   And Yes, I am still sick (a little).

They had a setback in Negritas watering the fields.  I am going to stay another day in Querétaro and then hopefully we can go to Oaxaca.  I am still studying for the seminar I am going to teach in Oaxaca.  The more I can study, the more I can present.

Pray for God’s blessing.

Day 6 in Mexico

Life has not always been easy.  Remedios sent money to buy her mother a TV.  I bought the TV last Friday, tried to install it, found that it got no channels and that the connection for video games was bad.  The next day I bought an antennae, spent several hours putting it together only to find it did not rotate after it was all installed.  I was totally worn out.  I decided that the enemy could win all the battles he wanted to – except the important ones.  Take it down; take it back (without a receipt); take TV back to WalMart in Querétaro; feared the worst – got the best.  No problem at WalMart and no problem at the tiny store that didn’t give me a receipt.  Hopefully everything will work when I get back to Negritas in a couple of days.

Speaking of the next couple days, Jerilyn and I are spending a few in Querétaro with Jesús and Pueblito Escobar.  Jesús is Lupe’s cousin and attended our church in Jefferson for several years as well as all our outreaches.  He also attended my leadership training at church with Lupe and Juan.

We were going to visit Jesús and Pueblito after out trip to Oaxaca but the need to water Lupe’s fields postponed that a few days so we moved up our trip to Querétaro.  I helped Lupe water this morning for a few hours and became TOTALLY exhausted.  No exercise for three months coupled with 7300 feet altitude and being now over 58 years old all worked together to take a heavy toll on my poor little old body.

Pray for a good visit with Jesús and Pueblito.

Pray for a great trip to Oaxaca.

Pray for an awesome harvest of corn, beans, and squash. (You can see them all in the pictures.)

 

Watering is very hard work!  The crop is on a hill.  We started water running on the up hill side and directed it with little dams.  Because it was running at a good clip down hill in each row we had to put little dams all along the way.  We let it run to the end of the row and then stopped it with a dam.  Then we had to stop it farther up with another little dam as the water got to the top of the previous dam.  Lots of emergencies as water would breach the row and threaten to wash out the whole way down the hill!  Pray for rain!  It takes 3 or 4 days to water and they have to do it every week it does not rain.  Also, if it does not rain they will run out of water in the little reservoir they have.

We are in Negritas

We are now in Negritas with Lupe and Leti.  We are also looking for guidance as to when we should go to Oaxaca. Lupe and Leti cleared their schedule so we are good to go from that standpoint.  Their crops look good for now but it hasn't rained for a week and we should probably water before we go... which takes three days!  God knows the best days for us to be in Oaxaca and that is why we are looking to him for guidance.  We have another visit to make nearby that will take a couple of days, and so we could wait for a few days.  I am planning to teach a three day seminar in Oaxaca with 5-9 students. 

Our little car flew past 280,000 miles on the way here.  Pray that it does well to Oaxaca and back with Lupe and Leti’s whole family added to the load.  We will be completely over-loaded.  We have a carrier on top and a carrier on the trailer hitch.  I just need to lose some weight and we’ll be good.

Speaking of Lupe’s crops, keep praying!  (See previous post!)  This could be their best crop by far if God chooses to bless.  (It would not be hard as he has never had a “good” crop).  We want God to make his power known.  The last rain dumped a great amount of water on Lupe’s fields while many fields of nearby farmers did not receive any.  Some people are openly asking, “Why?”

“Glorify Your name in all the earth!”

Lift up your hands on the mountain!

That’s what we want you to do.  When the children of Israel were fighting against the Amalakites in the desert, Moses, Aaron, and Hur were up on the mountain supporting them in prayer.  When Moses lifted up his rod high (an indication that he was lifting up the people in prayer) the army of Israel was winning.  When Moses lowered his rod the Amalakites prevailed.  Noticing this, Aaron and Hur supported Moses’ arms as he lifted up the rod. 

So which battle was more important?  The one on the mountain or the one down on the desert?  The answer, I think, is both!  The people had to fight the battle in the desert… but if Moses, Aaron, and Hur weren’t up on the mountain supporting them in prayer that battle would have been lost!

We are now in Mexico fighting the battle, but we need you to lift us up in prayer.  We plan to return home on August 18.  Please pray for us until then.  A few things you can pray for:

• Safety on the road.
• Success in encouraging Lupe and Leti in their ministry.
• Success is teaching a seminar on how to use Bible storying to teach home Bible studies.
• Success in starting 2 new Bible studies in Santiago Apostol in Oaxaca.  Pray that they would continue after we leave with the ones we train in charge.

We will try to keep you informed with updates when find an internet café.  It is easier for me to type a fast report on Facebook than on this blog.  So, if you like you can friend me on facebook (Jon Sousa) and I will accept the next time I am on.  

Pray for Lupe’s and Leti’s harvest.

Four and a half years ago Lupe and Leti returned to their home town of Negritas as missionaries to shine Jesus’ light.  They have been working hard to reach their family, friends and neighbors for Jesus. 

This prayer request is for a different kind of harvest… a physical one with real corn and beans.  Lupe and Leti live in a mountainous desert area of central Mexico.  Crop failure is the norm rather than the exception.  I have been going to Negritas for years and I have never once seen a stand of corn like what is common here in Oregon.  It is much more common to see withered, half grown stocks standing in parched earth.

Lupe likes to farm and he needs a crop to help feed his family.  We support them financially but it is not enough to completely provide for his growing family of six.  But that is not the reason we need to pray for Lupe’s harvest.

The more important reason is that people in Negritas are watching… and they need Jesus.  God blessing Lupe’s harvest is a way to demonstrate his glory to the people in Negritas.  Every year that Lupe has planted his small field he has had a slightly better crop than everyone else in town.  And the farmers have noticed.  Last year a neighboring farmer brought his idol to bless his field.  Lupe watched as the man carried his little god all around the field to bless his harvest.

Lupe, Leti, and family 2 years ago

Lupe often gets discouraged and wonders if he will ever reap a harvest of souls.  When I visited him last November I encouraged him.  I told him that being a good farmer three months a year was part of being a good missionary.  I told him a story about a friend who grew up on a large farm in central California.   They had lots of fields and one of their main crops was cotton.  Year after year, one field always out performed the rest.  It wasn’t because the soil was any better.  It wasn’t because that field got any more water or fertilizer.  It wasn’t because it was weeded more often.  It was because my friend’s mom always prayed for that field.  She prayed for that field and God blessed that field.

I told Lupe that every year I have been praying for his fields, that God would bless them more than all the other fields around.  I encouraged Lupe and Leti to pray for their fields.  God has given a slightly better harvest to Lupe and the other farmers have noticed.  I am praying for a huge harvest that everyone will notice. 

Please join me in praying for Negritas, that God would show his glory and would triumph over the false gods of the area.  The people are expecting these false gods to punish Lupe for leaving them.  That hasn’t happened in over four years.  Pray that God will show Negritas who is God.  Pray for God to glorify his name and to draw many people to himself.

Update on Pastor Pablo

Thank you for praying.  Pastor Pablo’s hand is doing much better.  He was in the hospital for a couple of days.  We saw him on Sunday and he did not look well.  He was very shaky. Pablo has some other underlying issues that he has been suffering with for several months.  The doctors have not found the cause of these problems.  Please pray for Pablo’s health.  I will be preaching at the church for a few weeks.  We don’t know how long it will be before Pablo is back to normal.

Pray for our pastor in Salem

This is an urgent prayer request for Pablo, the pastor of our church in Salem.  My information is somewhat sketchy, but clear enough to pray for.   A few days ago Pablo was working and was stuck by a thorn (perhaps an insect bite too?)  His hand got very swollen.  He went to the doctor and was given an injection.  Today he went back to the doctor and was sent to the emergency room.  Doctors are now saying that his hand is so bad that he might lose it.  God is great!  Pray hard.

If any of you lacks wisdom...

Some time ago, Juan Alvarez started asking for prayer for wisdom, specifically, so that he can share God’s word more effectively with pre-believers.  On February 15 Juan was giving a ride home to a co-worker when the subject of conversation turned to spiritual things.  The Co-worker was a Jehovah’s Witness (as least in name - not practicing very much) and he asked Juan what he believed happened to people when they die.  He explained to Juan that JWs believe that the soul sleeps until the resurrection and the judgment. 

Juan told his friend that the Bible says that when a believer dies his soul is immediately in the presence of Jesus.  As they were discussing the idea Juan told his friend the story of the two men who were crucified with Jesus.  When he finished he reminded his friend of Jesus’ words to the man who believed, “This day you will be with me in Paradise.”  Juan asked, “If Jesus said that THIS DAY you will be with me in Paradise, when did his soul have a chance to sleep?”  Juan’s co-worker replied, “You’re right!  He had to be with Jesus that same day.”

I was very impressed… and blessed.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”  -  James 1:5

Open Gym in Full Swing

On January 4 we began a new year of Open Gym.  We meet at 6:30 pm at Talbot Community Church's gymnasium.  We have basketball for the men folk, activities for children, and mostly visiting for the ladies.  We also have English classes when there are people who are interested.

At about 8:00 pm we have a break for some refreshments and a short devotion.  This year I began sharing short Bible stories with a twist.  After sharing the story in Spanish and English I ask everyone to help me rebuild the story (retell the story with everyone's help).  Then I ask two questions:

·       What does this story teach us about God?  

·        What does this story teach us about people?

Everyone participates in rebuilding the story and answering the questions.  Right from the beginning of the year members of our church noticed that everyone was paying better attention to the story.  This is GOOD! 

Please pray for our Open Gym ministry and for everyone who comes, that God would reveal himself to them in a very real way.

Telling a Bible story